Ilayda Gökgöz

How can analyzing Justice Thomas' judicial opinions about affirmative action policy reveal potential future trends in modern Supreme Court decision-making?

Started Aug. 9, 2023

Abstract or project description

This paper argues the historical context of affirmative action policies, how and why Justice Thomas’ judicial opinions shaped affirmative action through his life and, based on these, predict the potential future trends that Supreme Court decision-making may take. I also focused on the specific cases, such as Students For Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard College and University of North Carolina (UNC), Fisher v. University of Texas (UT), Grutter v. Bollinger, and Gratz v. Bollinger, to understand Justice Thomas’ concurrence and dissent to make reasonable predictions regarding future affirmative action college admission race based policies.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze recent affirmative action policies in order to determine how Justice Thomas' dissenting and concurring opinions affected these cases and whether future affirmative action decisions can be predicted. In section one, I provide an overview of relevant terms that are necessary to understand affirmative action. In section two, I will discuss arguments and analyze parts of the topic. Section three discusses the background of Justice Thomas' life and the things that influenced his decision to focus on affirmative action cases.